List of English words of Scottish Gaelic origin explained

This is a list of English words borrowed from Scottish Gaelic. Some of these are common in Scottish English and Scots but less so in other varieties of English.

Words of Scottish Gaelic origin

Bard:^[1] The word's earliest appearance in English is in 15th century Scotland with the meaning "vagabond minstrel". The modern literary meaning, which began in the 17th century, is heavily influenced by the presence of the word in ancient Greek (bardos) and ancient Latin (bardus) writings (e.g. used by the poet Lucan, 1st century AD), which in turn took the word from the Gaulish language.

Words of Scottish or Irish Gaelic origin

The following words are of Goidelic origin but it cannot be ascertained whether the source language was Old Irish or one of the modern Goidelic languages.

Brogue:^[1] An accent, Irish, or Scottish Gaelic bròg in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /pɾɔːk/, shoe (of a particular kind worn by Irish and Gaelic peasants), Old Irish bróc, from Norse brókr^[2]

Gaelic words mostly used in Lowland Scots

Because of the wide overlap of Scottish English and Lowland Scots, it can be difficult to ascertain if a word should be considered Lowland Scots or Scottish English. These words tend to be more closely associated with Lowland Scots but can occur in Scottish English too.

Airt:^[1] Point of the compass, from àird in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /aːrˠtʲ/, a point.

Inch (in the sense of an island):,^[1] from Scottish Gaelic innis in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /ĩːʃ/.^[10]

Abthen (or Abthan):^[11] jurisdiction and territory of pre-Benedictine Scottish monastery, from †abdhaine in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /ˈapɣəɲə/, abbacy.

Place-name terminology

There are numerous additional place-name elements in Scotland which are derived from Gaelic, but the majority of these have not entered the English or Scots language as productive nouns and often remain opaque to the average Scot. A few examples of such elements are:

a(u)ch- from Gaelic achadh, a field; hence Auchentoshan distillery, Auchinleck
ard- from Gaelic àird, a height or promontory; hence Ardnamurchan, etc.
bal- from Gaelic baile, a town; hence Balgowan, Balgay etc.
cam- from Gaelic camas, a bend or meander; hence Cambuslang, Cambusnethan
dal- from Gaelic dail, a meadow (not to be confused with "dale", from the Norse dalr meaning a valley); hence Dalry
drum- from Gaelic druim, a ridge; hence Drumchapel, Drumnadrochit etc.
dun- from Gaelic dun, a fort; hence Dundee, Dumbarton, Dunedin
inver- from Gaelic inbhir, a river mouth or confluence; hence Inverclyde, Inverleith
kil- from Gaelic cill, a churchyard; hence Kilmarnock, Kilbride etc.
kin- from Gaelic ceann, a head; hence Kinlochleven, Kinloss etc.

References

Notes and References

Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition Harper Collins (2001)
MacBain, A. (1911) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language
Hoad, T.F. (ed) (1986) Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology Oxford
Èarlaid
Web site: Home : Oxford English Dictionary.
Web site: MacBain's Dictionary - Section 36. www.ceantar.org.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/gaelic/pdfs/placenamesP-Z.pdf Iain Mac an Tàilleir: Scottish Placenames
McArthur. T. The Oxford Companion to the English Language Oxford University Press 1992
Simpson, J.A. and Weiner E.S.C. The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition Vol XV
Web site: Dictionary of the Scots Language :: SND :: Inch n.. www.dsl.ac.uk.
Robinson, M. (ed) The Concise Scots Dictionary Chambers 1985